It's Good to Be Back
by Steel Fairy
Summary: Sonic chuckled, watching the chaos ensue in front of him. He realized in that moment that there was nowhere else he'd rather be than right here, surrounded by his old friends. Sm4sh era. Oneshot.


_~It's Good To Be Back~_

"Alright laddie, have fun at the tournament!"

"Will do Kapp'n! Thanks!" Sonic yelled over his shoulder, watching the bus slowly pull away from the pathway. Smirking, Sonic spun on his heel and picked up his bags, before making his way down the brick path towards his destination - The Smash Mansion. Where only the best fighters in the universes came to duke it out in a tournament held by two disembodied floating white hands.

...Yeah, it didn't really make much sense, did it? But it certainly wasn't the strangest thing Sonic had seen in his lifetime, not by a long shot. Passing by the large fountain in the pavilion, he was about to head up the steps and knock on the door when a blur of white and feathers barreled into him, causing the hedgehog to fall backwards onto the hard ground below.

"SONIC! It really is you, I missed you so much!" Pit exclaimed, bouncing up and down on his heels and fluttering his wings as Sonic held his head and groaned, slowly dragging himself into a sitting position.

"I missed ya too buddy," Sonic chuckled, slowly standing and grabbing his two bags. "Good to see you haven't changed a bit."

"Well come on! Lots of other fighters are here already, and apparently there's even more coming! We don't know who they are, but I'm sure they'll be awesome friends!" Pit triumphantly pumped a fist in the air, before heading up the steps and pushing open the doors of the mansion. After a second, Sonic grinned and headed after the angel.

The interior hadn't changed as far as Sonic could tell, the only new addition seemingly being large marble statues of Master Hand and Crazy Hand on either side of the stairwell, which Sonic felt unusually disturbed by. A few Smashers wandered around the foyer, greeting Sonic as they caught sight of him.

"So you DID get your invitation. You know, for being the fastest thing alive, you sure do like to take your sweet time showing up to things."

Smirking, Sonic turned to the source of the voice coming from the top of the stairwell, locking eyes with his eternal rival, Mario. Placing a hand on his hip, he shot back, "Well, I would've got here sooner, but I was a little busy saving the world, y'know how it is."

Mario grinned, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Oh, I know," he responded, descending the stairs. Pit looked back and forth between the rivals as they stood in front of each other, silently considering the other with neutral expressions on their faces. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the two beamed and high-fived, fist-bumping before clasping hands and laughing like they were the best of friends.

"Nice to see you again, Sonic. I was very happy when I learned you would be returning for another tournament."

"It's nice to see you again too, Mar. An' maybe this time you'll win when we have our inevitable match!"

Mario's face immediately deadpanned, and he folded his arms across his chest in annoyance. "We both know that you only won because the time ran out."

Sonic tutted. "I think you just have a hard time admitting that I'm just as strong as you."

Mario 'humphed' and turned away from the hedgehog, before looking over his shoulder at him and smiling. "Well come on, I think we should let Master Hand know that you've arrived here safe and sound."

Nodding, Sonic waved goodbye to Pit and grabbed his bags, following Mario up to the third floor where the hand's offices resided. Soon enough they stopped at a large oak door, and Sonic gave three heavy knocks to it. After a moment, a booming voice echoed from the inside.

"You may enter."

Pushing open the door, Sonic found himself in the office of Master Hand, the deity in question "sitting" in his large chair, motioning Sonic forward. Mario lingered outside, waiting for the hedgehog.

"Ah, Sonic, you've finally arrived. Please, have a seat, and we'll fill out the necessary paperwork required for you to participate in this tournament."

"No problem."

Half an hour later, Sonic handed over his completed paperwork, and Master Hand nodded.

"Welcome back to the Super Smash Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog. I expect good, strong fighting from you this season, and not to worry," he leaned in a bit close and lowered his voice. "There will most definitely be a rematch between you and Mario," Clearing his "throat" he continued, "Now please, feel free to spend the rest of the day among your peers. I'm certain you all have many stories to share."

Springing up from his seat, Sonic gave a quick wave to Master Hand and wandered out of his office, closing the door behind him. Mario was unsurprisingly still waiting for him, and together they headed back down to the foyer, making bets on their upcoming match. Yep, everything seemed to be perfectly -

"HIYAHHH!"

"FALCON... PUNCH!"

\- normal. The two rivals gave each other a glance and hurried into the foyer, where Crazy Hand thought it was a good idea to set up a match between Link and Captain Falcon, the other Smashers standing around the battle area in a circle shouting words of encouragement. Shaking his head in disbelief, Mario turned to Sonic.

"Just like old times, huh?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, like nothin' ever changed."

A moment of silence passed, before Mario slung an arm around the hedgehog's shoulder. "Well, I think it may be a little irrelevant to say it now, but welcome back Sonic."

Sonic chuckled, watching the chaos ensue in front of him. He realized in that moment that there was nowhere else he'd rather be than right here, surrounded by his old friends. Slinging an arm around Mario's shoulder, he smiled at his rival before finally responding.

"Thanks Mar. It's good to be back."


End file.
